Tag Archives: family

“Repost” – Corey and Jodi Get Hitched – “With Video”

061309_morgan_wedding_feature

Last weekend, the Wykles made a trip to Hagerstown, Maryland to attend the wedding of my brother Corey Morgan and his lovely finance Jodi Bowman. We left early on Friday to make the 7.5 hour car trip to Hagerstown. The trip was uneventful as expected. The ceremony was planned to be a small and intimate with only immediate family and a few close friends. On Friday evening we all headed over to Corey and Jodi’s house to check out all of the byproduct of all of the sweat/tears that has been invested in their 1920’s home. After a tour, the group headed out for dinner and then back to Corey/Jodi’s house to unwrap some wedding gifts.

[simage=723,512,y,center]

[simage=724,512,y,center]

Saturday arrived and the big day was here. We got moving early and decided to get a little exercise prior to heading over the ceremony. The kids hit the pool and Shelley and I tried to keep up with a little treadmill and P90X action. Needless to say, we didn’t execute our timing as we had hoped. We were late leaving the hotel and didn’t realize that the ceremony was 30 minutes away from Hagerstown. Time to drive like a bat out of hell! We arrive at what we thought was 20 minutes late at the Purple Iris at Hartwood in Martinsburg, WV. Thankfully, we made it in plenty of time and a service didn’t kick off until shortly after 12 PM. Whew! That would have been a had one to live down.

[simage=726,512,y,center]

[simage=729,512,y,center]

[simage=772,512,y,center]

[simage=775,512,y,center]

[simage=777,512,y,center]

The venue was beautiful and the weather was picture perfect. The couple provided a string trio for everyone’s musical enjoyment. The ceremony was an outdoor service and was delivered in an expedient fashion. The ceremony was officiated by Pastor Debra and featured a hand fasting ritual.

[simage=741,512,y,center]

[simage=746,512,y,center]

[simage=750,512,y,center]

[simage=778,512,y,center]

[simage=754,512,y,center]

After the ceremony many pictures were taken of all of the attendees. I have included a few of my own that were taken along side the professional photographer. Many more can be located in the photo album.

[simage=779,512,y,center]

[simage=756,512,y,center]

[simage=759,512,y,center]

To wrap up the perfect day, the couple hosted a lunch reception inside the beautiful Hartwood Mansion. Ordeuvres were served and the attendees were encouraged to sign the guest plate. The plate will capture all of the signatures and will be fired in order to preserve the memory.

WEBN Fireworks

090609_fireworks_035_feature

The 2009 WEBN fireworks is an annual event hosted in Cincinnati every Labor Day weekend. The evening was capped off by a 30-40 minute fireworks display launched from barges stationed on the Ohio River. I can say that this is an annual event a that finds the Wykles making the trip to NCC to enjoy the show. This year’s show was the first time that Shelley was in attendance and not an employee of NCC. A bit strange to say the least.

[simage=963,512,y,center]

[simage=964,512,y,center]

[simage=965,512,y,center]

[simage=966,512,y,center]

[simage=967,512,y,center]

[simage=968,512,y,center]

[simage=970,512,y,center]

[simage=971,512,y,center]

PA Wykles Visit KY Wykles

080109_wykles_feature

At the end of July we had the pleasure to host my cousin Mark Wykle and his family from Pennsylvania. Mark, Beth, Ben and Elyse made the 10 hour trip from their home outside of Philadelphia, PA to our humble abode in NKY. The trip was only the second time (first trip in 1999) that Mark and Beth had visited us since settling down in Kentucky. Mark’s sister Jennifer also joined the fun to fully reunite the Wykle threesome that have grown up together sharing everything since infants.

The trip introduced both Natalie and Eli to their long distant cousins from the East. The kids had great fun playing and connecting with other kids with the “last name of Wykle”…”Cool” was uttered a few different times by Natalie. Poignant thoughts given that Natalie has so carried her own scarlet letter, being called “Wykle” by her friends. I tried to tell her that it is just a natural thing that seems to happen with our name…your dad also was call “Wykle” and your mom has now been branded the same by good friends.

The visit was a great success and a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo was a definitely highlight. The day was cut a bit short by some rain, but only after many of the exhibits had already been enjoyed.

[simage=914,512,y,center]

[simage=917,512,y,center]

[simage=918,512,y,center]

[simage=921,512,y,center]

[simage=925,512,y,center]

[simage=928,512,y,center]

[simage=931,512,y,center]

The visit also corresponded to Shelley and my 11th wedding anniversary that allowed us to eat a fabulous dinner at one of our favorite restaurants – Maggianos. Here are just a few shots from the evening.

[simage=932,512,y,center]

[simage=933,512,y,center]

[simage=934,512,y,center]

The Williams Wedding

062709_williams_wedding_feature

This post a few weeks late in coming due to much traveling. My sister Jackie was married to Todd Williams on June 27, 2009. The Wykles made the trip back to WV to catch all of the festivities. Check out some of the photos from the ceremony below.

[simage=828,512,y,center]

[simage=830,512,y,center]

[simage=833,512,y,center]

[simage=835,512,y,center]

[simage=837,512,y,center]

[simage=839,512,y,center]

[simage=841,512,y,center]

[simage=843,512,y,center]

[simage=844,512,y,center]

To the Capital We Go!

061409_dc_trip_070_feature

Given our close proximity to our Nation’s capital while in Maryland attending Corey and Jodi’s wedding, the Wykles decided to make a detour to DC.  After the ceremony on Saturday we grabbed Nana and hopped in the van and headed south toward Obama headquarters. It took about 2 hours to arrive at our hotel in Alexandria, VA. Shelley had booked us in the Washington Suites. It turned out to be a older apartment building that had been converted into a hotel. Our room included a full two bedrooms, two baths, and fully functional kitchen. The kitchen appliances were circa 1970’s, but functional and came in very handy to prepare the quick snacks and a few diners.

[simage=782,512,y,center]

Our first day touring was Sunday. We hopped the Metro blue line at the Van Dorn Street station. 45 minutes later and we arrived at the Smithsonian stop. We decided to start off with the Gray Line double-decker bus tour. We hopped the bus at stop #3 on Constitutional Ave and jumped off at the Lincoln Memorial.

[simage=784,512,y,center]

[simage=786,512,y,center]

[simage=789,512,y,center]

The tour took about 2 hours to see most of the popular DC sites. The weather was gorgeous! The next stop took us to the Natural History Museum. We also met up with a HS friend (and family) of Shelley’s that happened to also be traveling through the area. Both families strolled casually through looking at all of the cool exhibits.

[simage=793,512,y,center]

[simage=794,512,y,center]

[simage=795,512,y,center]

The first full day of touring took at a lot out of the troops. Here is what a full day of sight seeing can do to a person.

[simage=797,512,y,center]

The second day of touring started off with a great start. We set up a guided tour of the Capital through Representative Davis’s (R-KY) office. Intrestingly enough, the intern that was assigned to give our tour was a former student of Shelley’s…what a small world!

[simage=798,512,y,center]

[simage=801,512,y,center]

[simage=803,512,y,center]

After the Capital tour, we headed to the American History Museum. Next  we hit the Crime and Punishment Museum. Lastly, to round out the day we ended up at Madame Tussauds Was Museum. The kids (and adults) enjoyed this attraction the most. The figures are unbelievably realistic.

[simage=812,512,y,center]

[simage=814,512,y,center]

[simage=815,512,y,center]

[simage=819,512,y,center]

[simage=822,512,y,center]

Corey and Jodi Get Hitched

061309_morgan_wedding_feature

Last weekend, the Wykles made a trip to Hagerstown, Maryland to attend the wedding of my brother Corey Morgan and his lovely finance Jodi Bowman. We left early on Friday to make the 7.5 hour car trip to Hagerstown. The trip was uneventful as expected. The ceremony was planned to be a small and intimate with only immediate family and a few close friends. On Friday evening we all headed over to Corey and Jodi’s house to check out all of the byproduct of all of the sweat/tears that has been invested in their 1920’s home. After a tour, the group headed out for dinner and then back to Corey/Jodi’s house to unwrap some wedding gifts.

[simage=723,512,y,center]

[simage=724,512,y,center]

Saturday arrived and the big day was here. We got moving early and decided to get a little exercise prior to heading over the ceremony. The kids hit the pool and Shelley and I tried to keep up with a little treadmill and P90X action. Needless to say, we didn’t execute our timing as we had hoped. We were late leaving the hotel and didn’t realize that the ceremony was 30 minutes away from Hagerstown. Time to drive like a bat out of hell! We arrive at what we thought was 20 minutes late at the Purple Iris at Hartwood in Martinsburg, WV. Thankfully, we made it in plenty of time and a service didn’t kick off until shortly after 12 PM. Whew! That would have been a had one to live down.

[simage=726,512,y,center]

[simage=729,512,y,center]

[simage=772,512,y,center]

[simage=775,512,y,center]

[simage=777,512,y,center]

The venue was beautiful and the weather was picture perfect. The couple provided a string trio for everyone’s musical enjoyment. The ceremony was an outdoor service and was delivered in an expedient fashion. The ceremony was officiated by Pastor Debra and featured a hand fasting ritual.

[simage=741,512,y,center]

[simage=746,512,y,center]

[simage=750,512,y,center]

[simage=778,512,y,center]

[simage=754,512,y,center]

After the ceremony many pictures were taken of all of the attendees. I have included a few of my own that were taken along side the professional photographer. Many more can be located in the photo album.

[simage=779,512,y,center]

[simage=756,512,y,center]

[simage=759,512,y,center]

To wrap up the perfect day, the couple hosted a lunch reception inside the beautiful Hartwood Mansion. Ordeuvres were served and the attendees were encouraged to sign the guest plate. The plate will capture all of the signatures and will be fired in order to preserve the memory.

1st Annual Wykleville Book

book_feature

In an effort to continue documenting the life and times of the Wykles, I decided to take a stab at producing my own “blog book”. I wanted to take some of the more important post from the Wykleville site and document them in a book form. I also wanted this to be a surprise for the Shelley as a Christmas gift. After seeing some very neat samples online, I went and researched the different companies that provide book production. I settled on using Blurb after reading many positive reviews and a one week turn around. Blurb has their own free software that is required in order to upload the book. It also has simple production tools  and upload the book. I found the software a bit limiting and not allowing me to achieve the effects that I was after. So I expanded my search and found FotoFusion. It is a nice piece of software that met my needs. After a free trial, I found that it was quite powerful and easy to use. It allows you to easily crop, rotate, and re-size the photos. It also has many different photo frames allowing you to create different looks for each of the pictures that you drop in. Finally, the front and back cover was created with a Microsoft Autocollege product that takes a folder and creates a nice college of pictures. 

I created each page in FotoFusion and then drop them into the Blurb software in order to upload the finished product. 

You can check out the finished product here.

Thanksgiving…A Time for Family.

This year was out of the norm for our family. Instead of heading to Wild and Wonderful West Virginia, the Wykles decided to hang out closer to home. Forty-five minutes away to be precise. For those who don’t know, we have quite a few relatives from my side (Kellison/Blankenship) in vicinity of NKY. My grandmother Pearl and Aunt Lisa live in Middletown, Ohio. My other Aunt Angie lives in West Chester, Ohio.

The plan was initially hatched far to the north (Ottawa, ON) by my uncle Ron. In a moment of sentimental weakness, he wanted to get all of his siblings (and families) together to break bread in West Chester Ohio. Ron and his wife Sue arrived on Monday (after a lengthy drive ~ 12 hours) and had plenty of time to help out with some routine maintenance around Pearl’s house. My mother Kelly and brother Corey (with fiance Jodi) arrived on Wednesday afternoon after driving up from West Virginia. The stayed with us in Burlington. 

Angie and her husband Mark decided to host the festivities at their house.  The potluck dinner commenced around 4:00 PM and was well attended with more than enough food and drink to satisfy everyone. 

[simage=395,512,y,left]

[simage=398,512,y,left]

[simage=399,512,y,left]

[simage=400,512,y,left]

[simage=402,512,y,left]

[simage=403,512,y,left]